My DS has always been a very enthusiastic feeder even though slow to put on weight (as I've mentioned here before!). In the past week, he's started feeding for a very short time - five or ten minutes max per side - and getting very frustrated with me when he runs out of milk. I can't get him to stay on for another let-down, and he feeds mostly until there is absolutely nothing left on either side (I swap him back to side one, then side two, though often there isn't a huge amount more available and it makes him even crankier). He will then cry hysterically until someone else takes him (for preference) or I manage to distract him and wind him. He has been suffering from wind a bit, but not so much that it should be stopping him from feeding properly. Still 3 or so dirty nappies every 24 hours, and wet ones in between, so he does seem to be getting milk out of it, but I am shellshocked by two things: how quickly he's feeding when he used to take a minimum of 45 minutes (more often over an hour) and how bloody angry he is getting! He gets very tired then and ends up needing a nap after playing for forty minutes or an hour. He's used to having a long feed, an hour or so of play and then a sleep during the day, and either he needs a new schedule or he needs to learn that he's got to pace himself for a longer play!
Not sure what to do with him, or if he's getting enough milk and I'm very tempted to start supplementing him again, as he does just seem so cross when the milk runs out. He is small and trying to catch up, I think, but when feeding is such a trauma for both of us, I'm reluctant to try feeding him more frequently than he's looking for it (about every 2-2.5 hours during the day, every 4 hours at night). If this is normal, I can see why people end up weaning before six months. Reassurance, anyone?